Stop hinge with friction catch



Oct. 28, 1958 I R. o. JQRDAN I I STOP HINGE WITH FRICTION CATCH Filed June 3. 1955 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

W; fiawt Oct.28 ,1958 R. o. JQRDAN 2,857,618

STOP HINGE WITH FRICTION CATCH Filed June 5. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 765W? oai wa BY W i United States Patent STOP HINGE WITH FRICTION CATCH Robert Oakes Jordan, Highland Park, 11]., assignor to R & E Moulding Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofDelaware Application June 3, 1955, Serial No. 512,923

7 Claims. (Cl. 16142) This invention relates to hinges and more particularly to improvements in stop hinges in which theangle of rotation' of the hinge element is limited. Specifically the invention pertains to a novel stop hinge construction having means for maintaining the relative angular'relationship of the members of the hinge in a plurality of positions without however materially interfering with the manual manipulation of the hinge.

Stop hinges having automatic stop means for limiting the swinging movement of the hinged object are fairly well known in the art. Such hinges in various designs and constructions find a multiplicity of applications such as for example in furniture, appliances, household fixtures and the like. Although such hinges are indeed effective in limiting the movement of the hinged object, heretofore, however, none of these hinges were capable of maintaining the hinged object in one or more preselected angular positions. Consequently the use and application of such hinges have been somewhat limited.

It istherefore an important object of this invention to provide a stop hinge, having automatic stop means for limiting the swinging movement of the hinged object and further having means for automatically retaining hinged objects in a plurality of pre-selected positions without however-interfering with the manual movement of 'the hinged object within the limits of its path ofmovement.

Heretofore photograph frame have been provided with stop members for supporting the frame on a flat surface. Such stop members have usually been hingedly aifixed to the back of the photograph frame by direct fastening means positioned at the upper end of the support and the support member then provided with a crease or fold line enabling the support member to be pivoted about the axis of the crease in an are away from the photograph, thereby providing support means for the same. Stop means comprising a ribbon connecting the lower portion of the support member to the back of the photograph frame was usually employed to limit the swinging movementof the support member.

The above described support member construction has beencharacterized by several inherent dis advantages. For example their design and construction did not readily lend themselves to modern production methods. Consequently considerable hand labor was required in their construction and'assembly. Obviously rising labor costs resulted inexc'essively costly picture frames.- Moreover, in the absence of any means to retain the support member in a pre-' selected position with respect to the-photograph'frames, photographs were often inadvertently knocked over, resulting in glass breakage and injury to the frame and photograph or picture contained therein.

It is therefore another important object of this invention to afford means for affixing a support member in hinged relationship to the back of aphotograph frame which will overcome all of the disadvantages mentioned hereinabove.

A further object is. to provide a stophinge having means for both limiting the swinging movement of the support '2 member and further means for retaining the support me'ma ber in at least two pre-selected positions withouthow-.

ever preventing the manual movement of the support ber may be made of parts manufactured substantially automatically by machine, and the assembly of said parts may be likewise accomplished by'substantially automatic operations which require minimum human attention.

Yet another object is to afford a photograph support member assembled to the back of a photograph frame by a device of substantially greater strength and durability than heretofore employed;

Yet a further object is to provide a two piece stop hinge of simple, inexpensive construction, yet sturdy and effective.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention' consists of certain novel features of construction, ar-

rangement and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being' understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

For. the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in theaccompanying drawings preferred embodiments thereof, from .an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, as-

sembly and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same charac ters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures 'of the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a photograph frame back member and support member illustrating :anapplication of a stop hinge embodying the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a photographframe support member assembly employing my improved hinge;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged. fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of line 3-3 in Fig. 2 of the drawings and viewed in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of my novel hinge;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the.

hinge illustrating certain details of construction;

Fig. 6'is a plan view, partially in section, taken substantially on the plane of line 6-6 in Fig. 7 of the drawings, and with portions of the members broken: away to. illustrate certain details of construction;

Figs. 7-9 inclusive are enlarged fragmentary sectional views illustrating the operation. of the hinge as the support member is moved successively through a pluralit of positions; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary side view ofa modified. form of the hinge; and Fig. 11 is a similar fragmentary side view'of 'still another modifiedhinge construction.

Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be noted that reference numeral 10 indicates generally the back-of a photograph frame comprising a backing member 12,

and-a support member 14; The top end of the ;.s.upport member 14 is joinedxto the backingmemberlz ,by means of a stop hinge 16. embodying: the principles of myuiuven Patented Qct. 28, s

V 3- tion and comprising the subject. matter of this application.

It should be obviousthat the support member constructionis shownhere. primarily for the purpose of illustrating. thenov'elI application of the new hinge construction; It. should v furtherbe noted that the. bottom edges of the support member: 14m formed with two flat surfaces-.18 and'2 'sojpositioned that the picture may be supported by thesupportmemberwith its majoraxis positioned; in 7 either. a substantiallyivertical. plane or a substantially horizontal plane as desired. p v w Referring now to Figs; 3-6 inclusive, the construction of the hinge .16 will now be ,described'in some detail. -It will ibenotd, especially in-Fig. 5 of the drawings,;that thehinge ..comprises' onlyitwo-members,;22 and 24 respectively. Shetlmember- 22 comprises a springleaf made froma-fiatsheet or plate of material with one end.

' tionalponfiguration in the form of a substantially closed triangular loop. It will be noted that the sheet hasbeen bent-through an acute angle at 36 and again through an acute angleat -38. Portions of the socket segment 34 may be cut. out 'as shown at 40 and 42. r The purpose of these cut-outs will becomeapparent as the description proceeds. o V

Theother member of the hinge may comprise a leaf 24 having a'plurality of slots such as 44, 46and 48 formed in aligned transverse position intermediate the length of the leaf 24and adjacent a portion of its edge or periphery. Itfwill 'benoted that slots 44 and 48 open to the edges of theleaf 24, thereby afiording outwardly protruding pintles such as 50 and 52.. These pintles are embraced by the socket-walls, because of wall 34 extending through the slots 44, 46 and 48. This arrangement rotatably secures the leaf members together. i V

The slots 44 and 46 define between them a neck seg- V ment-54 and similarly. the slots 46 and 48' define between them a neck segment 56. The neck segments 54 and connect the pintle members 50 and 52 to theleaf member 24. The various slots and neck portionsare so dimensioned in frelation to each other that adequate clearance between the necks 56 and 54 and the socket segments 34 is assured." Thus it will readily be perceived that the two members are operatively joined together by means of the pintles 50 and.52 which are actually integrally formed and connected to the leaf 24. The pintles, may be manually moved in an arcuate path within the bearing socket 26; the path being limited by the socket walls 28 and-32. Thus it will be obvious that the socket sides 281and 32 afford automatic stop means for limiting the arcuate movement of the member 24, as was set forth in the statement of the objects.

Means are further provided in thehinge for retaining the hinged object in any one of a plurality of prerselected positions to which the same may be moved; Referring then to Figs. 7-9v of the drawings, this means will now be disclosed in some detail. 7 7

I -InFig'. 7 ofthe "drawings it; will be noted that the pintle is so dimensioned that it is equivalent in width to the full length of the socket side 28, so that its ends abut the inner apex of. the angular portion 36 and the socket wall 34 respectively. As the leaf 24 with the attached ,support member 14is swung outwardly in an arcuate path away from the leaf 22 attached .to the photograph frame backing member 12, the pintle 50 likewise describes an arcuate path, the apex of said path being reached at approximatelymidway of the length of the bears against the inner surface of the resilient deformable socket wall 34 flexing the same outwardly in order to accommodate the passage of the pintle.

resilience of the socket wall 34 exerts sufiicient force against the end 58 of the pintle 50 to readily maintain the pintles from being readily moved to any otherposition within the limitations of its arcuate path of move-.

ment by manually grasping the supportmember 14 an merely pushing it one way or the other. f

In Fig. 9 of the drawings it will be noted that the pintle.

50has been moved further through its arcuate path until it abuts the outer wall ,32 of the socket 26. .In this posietion the pintle end 58 no longer bears against the socket wall 34 with sufficient force to flex the socketwall 34 outwardly, because the width of the pintle is likewise substantially the same as the length of the socketwall 32. Thus the end 30 of the socket wall 34, by virtue of the; inherent resilience of its material of construction is. returned to its natural unflexed position abutting'the leaf 22.

Itshould further be noted that the position illustrated in'Fig: 9 is the position of maximumangular displace ment of the support memberfrom the photograph. It

should likewise, be noted that in this position the pintle 50-is maintained in the position to which ,itzhas been moved by virtue of the resilient socket wall 34. v

It should be, obvious that the above-described socket; I and pintle structure is repeated in eachaof the three seg-. l

between the support member 14 and'the photograph;v

frame backing member 12, I have illustrated in the draw; ings a preferred simple fastening, means constructio which is unitarily formed in the hinge itself.-; 1 In Figs. 1,3 and 4 of thedrawings this fastening means: comprises a plurality ofspikes or prongs such-as .60,'

Thus as l shown in Fig.8 of the drawings, the socket wall segment a 34 is bent outwardly to a position where the end 30 of Y the socket wall 34 is spaced from the leaf 22. Since the; a hinge itself is'preferably made of tempered steel, thewhich protrude outwardly from each member22 and .1 24

of thehinge. These prongs 60 arearcuately curved. that upon imbedding the same, onev in the support ment ber 14 and the other in the photograph frame backing. member 12, the hinge is securely mounted and retained in operational position; The prongs 60 may be readily; l formed by merely broaching the leaves 22 and 24 of the t hinge to afford openings withthe outwardly-stamped marginal material formed into sharp prongs or teeth. I

In Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings there are illustrated two additional embodiments of the invention. illus! trating several. other modified socket constructions which,

like the principal embodiment enable the hinged mernbers to be maintained ina plurality of pre-selected angular positions. In the embodimentillustrated in Fig.;'10 of the drawings, similar 'parts are indicated by v hke merals with the added suflix a.

-In this embodiment the socket wall 34 may be with a-dimple-62 affording a spherical protrus1oir164; protruding inwardly from the inner surface of the wall.

34a into the path of movement of the pintle 50a. It will further be noted that the pintle 50a may be somewhat shorter than the pintle of the principal embod i ment and hence need not be made with'the same axactingi; :,f

Thus, movement of the p1ntle' 1s degree of precision. unrestricted within the socket 26a exceptfor the pro;- trusion 64. It will be noted that the length of .the pintle 50a is such that when it is moved into the ,apex of arcuate path the end 58:: will abut the protrusion '64. Thus it will readily be perceived that the pintle is retained on one side .or the other .of the protrusion =64.so that the arcuate path .of movement ;is restricted into the comparatively narrow paths on each side of the protrusion .64. When it is desired to move theleaf 240: from the position shown in solid outline :in Fig, to its outward position shown in dotted outline, the tleaf'is merely swung outwardly andfas it passes ,over the protrusion 64, .the socket member 34a is. flexed outwardly as in .the principal embodiment permitting the pintle end 58a to pass over the protrusion 64 .until-ithas reached the other side of the protrusion. At this point socket member 34a springs back to its original position blocking the pintle-5.0a in its new position ,andpermitting only limited movement between the socket wall 32a and the protrusion 64.

In Fig. 11 of the :drawing the embodiment illustrated has similar parts designated by like numerals with the added sutfix b. In this (embodiment the socket .wall member 34b is formed with a concave-convex shape with the inner wall thereof arcuately curved inwardly so that the apex thereof protrudes into the arcuate path of the pintle 50b. Again it will :be' noted that the length of the pintle 50b maybe such that the end 5811 of the pintle is spaced from the end 30b of the socket wall 3412. As in the previously wdescribed embodiment, this construction reduces the .degree of precision required in making the same.

The operation of the hinge is similar to the operation of the previously described embodiment. As the pintle 50b is moved through its arcuate path, pintle end 58b is moved until it abuts the inner surface 66 of the socket wall 34b at a-position approximately midway between the position of the pintle illustrated in solid outline and the position illustrated in dotted outline in Fig. 11 of the drawings. Again the flexing outwardly of the socket wall 34b permits movement of the pintle 50b to the various positions desired, but at the same time maintains the pintle in any pre-selected position.

From the above description and the drawings it will be apparent that I have provided a two-part stop hinge of simple construction having automatic stop means for limiting the arcuate path of movement of one part of the hinge. The hinge is further provided with means for maintaining the hinged member in any pre-selected position. However, the latter-mentioned means is so designed that it does not prevent manual movement of the hinged part to any other position. The hinge is admirably adapted for use in joining a support member to a photograph frame assembly, although it may be used equally as well in any of a large number of other applications.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of Wide variation within the pur view of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A plural position hinge comprising first and second leaf members, a tubular bead secured to a portion of said first leaf member, the cross sectional configuration of said tubular bead being in the form of a substantially closed loop, said second leaf member having at least one slot adjacent a portion of its periphery, part of the walls of said tubular bead extending through said slot to embrace the portion of said second leaf member between said slot and said adjacent periphery whereby to rotatably secure said leaf members together, said embraced portion of said second leaf comprising at least one pintle, said pintle being elongated in cross section, one portion of the walls of said tubular bead comprisingafirst stop,to-:engage said .pintle in one hinge position .and limit further relative rotation of said leaf members in'onedireotion, another portion of the walls of said tubular bead .comprising a second stop to engage said pintle in.,a second hinge position and .limitfurther relative rotation of said leaf member in the oppositedirection, a resilient deformable portion of said walls intermediate said first and .second stops, and a semi-spherical protrusion positioned on said resilientdeformable wall portion, said protrusion extending into the path of movement of said pintle, said protrusion being positioned to be engaged by said pintle as the hinge leaves are rotated from one fixed position itO another whereby the hinge rests in one .or theotherfixed position until sufiicient force is exerted on .the leaves .to force the pintle past said semi-spherical protrusion into the other fixed position.

2. A plural position hinge vcomprisingfirstand second leaf members, a tubular bead secured to a ,portion of said ,first leaf member, the cross sectional configuration of said tubular bead being inthe form of a substantially closed loop, said second leaf member having at .least one slot adjacent a portion of its periphery, part of the .walls of said tubular bead extending through said ,slot to em brace the portion of said secondleaf member between said slot and said adjacent periphery whereby to rotatably secure said leaf members together, said embraced portion of said second leaf comprising at least. onepintle,

said .pintle being elongated in .cross section, one portion of the walls of said tubular bead comprising a first stop to engage said pintlein one hinge position and limit further relative rotation of said leaf members in one direction, another portion of the walls of said tubular bead comprising a second stop to engage said pintle in a second hinge position and limit further relative rotation of said leaf member in the opposite direction, aresilient deformable portion of said Walls intermediate said first and second stops, said resilient deformable wall portion being concavo-co-nvexly curved with the convex side protruding into the path of movement of said pintle and positioned to be engaged by said pintle as the hinge leaves are rotated from one fixed position to another whereby the hinge rests in one or the other fixed position until sufficient force is exerted on the leaves to force the pintle past said concavo-convexly curved wall portion into the other fixed position.

3. A plural position hinge comprising first and second leaf members, a socket secured to said first leaf member, the cross sectional configuration of said socket being in the form of a substantially closed triangular loop, said socket including two intersecting side walls and a third resilient wall, said second leaf member having at least one slot adjacent a portion of its periphery, one of the wallsof said socket extending through said slot to embrace the portion of said second leaf member between said slot and said adjacent periphery thereby rotatably securing said leaf members together, said embraced portion of said second leaf member comprising at least one pintle, said pintle being elongated in cross section, one of the walls of the socket comprising a first stop to engage saidpintle in one hinge position and limit further relative rotation of said leaf members in one direction, another of the walls of the socket comprising a second stop to engage said pintle in the other hinge portion and limit further rotation of said leaf members in the opposite direction, said third resilient wall being positioned intermediate said first and second stops and having a portion thereof positioned to be engaged by said pintle as the pintle is forced from one fixed position to another whereby the pintle rests in one or the other fixed position until sufiicient force is exerted on the leaves to force the pintle past the engaged portion of the resilient wall and to the other fixed position.

4. The hinge of claim 3 wherein the leaf members are planar, said first leaf member having an end portion bent to form one of the side walls, the other of said side walls lying in the adjacent plane of said first leaf member, the end of said, bent side wall being bent back toward the plane of said first leaf member to form the third resilient wall.

5. In a photograph frame including a backing member and support member; a two' position hin'ge, said hinge comprising first and second leaf members, one of said leaf members being secured to said backing member and the other to said support member, a socket secured to said first leaf member, the cross sectional configuration of said socket being in the form of a substantially closed triangular loop, said socket including two intersecting side walls and a third resilient wall, said second leaf member having at leastone slot adjacent a portion of its periphery, one of the walls of said socket extending through said slot to embrace the portion ,of said second leaf member between saidslot and said adjacent periphery whereby to rotatably secure said leaf members together, said embraced portion of said second leaf member comprising at least one pintle, said pintle being elongated in cross section, one of the walls of the socket comprising a first stop to engage said pintle in one hinge position and limit further relative rotation of said leaf members in one direction, another of the walls of the socket comprising a second stop to engage said pintle in the other hinge position and limit further rotation of said leaf members in the opposite direction, said third resilient wall intermediate said first and second stops andhaving a portion positioned to be engaged by said pintle as the hinge is forced from one fixed position to another Whereby the hinge rests in one or the other fixed position until suflicient force is exerted on the leaves to force the the hinge reaches the other fixed position.

6. 'A pl ural position hing e comprising first second. leaf members, a longitudinally e1 ttending substantially;

closed-loop'socket' integrally formed atone edge of'said fi s a m Said QQ Lds fl i crgss-sectinn isosceles, triangle, and a rectangular pintle integrally: formed in: amarginal'edge of saidsecond leaf membeiyfi; V

the cross-sectional length of said pintle being 'substan triangle afiording means adapted to cooperate with said pintleifortholding the same in positions adjacent either of said equal sides.

7. The hinge of claim 6 in which said trianglebas e comprises a resilient deformable wall bearing withvarying pressure against an edge of said pintle as the same is rotated, said pressure? being greatest when said pintle p i,

is moved to coincide with the altitude of 'said triangle, whereby said second leaf member is held-adjacent one or the other of said equalsides until sufficient force is exerted to move the same.

References Cited the file of this patent UNITED' STATES PATENTS 1,138,025 Stoll May 4, 2,345,719 Weil Apr; 4, 1944 2,448,580 Crosby Sept. 7, 1948 2,811,741 Miller et a1. NovzS,

FOREIGN PATENTS 7 963,023 France Dec. 19, 1949; 

